MTS Project Activities

The project engages in three distinct types of activities:

1. Materials Development  efforts which focus on evaluation techniques for developing useful chains of information and evidence. More specifically, activities will lead to
   • Increasing understanding among science educators of the actual roles that evaluations play for decision making and accountability purposes in science projects and identifying strengths and weaknesses of these evaluations
   • Identifying practical ways in which evaluation planning and implementation can be improved
   • Identifying exemplary designs, techniques, and tools for use in science project evaluations

2. Training  principal investigators, project evaluators, NSF program staff, and interested science educators in evaluation theory and practice -- incorporating lessons learned from study of evaluation. This training will occur through evaluation
   • Conferences
   • Institutes
   • Internships

3. Supporting  the conduct of evaluation through provision of resource services, which will directly assist project evaluators and others in designing and conducting project evaluations. This support system
   • will draw heavily upon information gained through the materials development and training programs
   • will facilitate interaction among project evaluators through Internet (World Wide Web) services
   • will provide consultation in evaluation planning, instruments, procedures, and resource information (e.g., directory of evaluation specialists)